Pong in Albany

May 10, 2010

by Jennifer Finn

“I came to WT’s often because I liked their wings,” said Neil Kapoor, 23, the regional tour director for the tournament. Kapoor who is originally from Buffalo started coming to WT’s because of a friend who attended school here. “This is just a great venue,” he said.

The first tournament held by the company sold out with a total of about 64 teams. “This tournament is a little smaller because it is during finals week and a lot of students aren’ t going out they are staying in and studying,” said Kapoor, late last week. About 24 teams in all but all of them were playing with the hopes of winning 1 st or 2 nd place and the prize that comes with it.

Up for grabs was a trip to the Atlantic City beer pong championship, which has a $50,000 prize pool. 1 stplace would get a spot in the three-day event that has up to 400 teams and the company would pay for their hotel. This is different from the 2 nd place winners who get a spot but would have to pay for their own room. Other prizes include gift cards to both Washington Tavern and FYE, who sponsor the company.

Some of the other sponsors include get bombed.com, a beer pong superstore that supplies the cups and balls, and Pong Along, which supplies the portable beer bong tables. The cups and balls are also from sponsors. So many think that this game is encouraging drinking but the games are all played entirely with water and events are typically 18 and up. ” Since Washington Tavern is a 21 and over venue this particular game is not open to anyone younger,” said Kapoor

The game is played with water, not only because it is New York State law, but also because it takes it from a drinking game to a sport. ” It is not about getting hammered it about focusing on the sport,” said Kapoor. ” Binge drinking doesn’t draw publicity but sports does,” he said. Drinking beer is 100% optional, and if you choose to drink the world beer pong team asks that you do it responsibly. The game goes by official tournament rules that have been designed to ensure fair play for all participants. Players range in their ages but it is considered to be mostly a sport played by males between the ages of 21 to 27, as Heather Hadgeoff, 25, found out.

“I guess it is a male dominated sport but I am not fazed by it,” said Hadgeoff, who is also a waitress at the establishment. “I’m off very soon and it’s a good way to monitor what is going on by being involved.” Her teammate, Steve Southwell, assistant manager at the Washington Tavern, helped think of their team name: JP Story hour. The team got their name from a bouncer who works there and tells stories. “We are hoping he comes in and hears it, ” said Southwell.

“The tournament is fun even though I haven’t really played since college,” he said. ”The first time the tournament came here it sold out and even last week there were a lot of teams but this is a smaller crowd,” he said. ”I think people are getting used to it. The first time everyone came because it was something new and I think this one was just too close to the one we hosted last week,” said Southwell. ”Too many too soon,” added Hadgeoff.

However, the crowd that was present Wednesday night was excited to be there even if finals week was hanging over their head, as Brendan Martin, 21, explained.

“We always thought it was a 21 and up to play in these but recently found out it was 18 and up,” he said. ”I’m excited to play but I do have to go home and study for finals after this,” said Martin, whose team, ‘The Truth,’ placed second in the event. Stephen Zappalla and Brady Dulle of team Splish Splash were the winners of the grand prize that night.